Plant molecular farming is currently operating a transition from soil‐based cultures toward hydroponic systems. In this study, we designed a whole‐plant NFT (nutrient film technique) platform for the transient expression of influenza virus‐like particles harboring hemagglutinin H1 proteins in Nicotiana benthamiana. In particular, we examined the effects of plant density during the post‐infiltration expression phase on plant growth and H1 yield in relation to the daily light integral (DLI) received by the crop and the exogenous application of 6‐BAP cytokinin (CK). We expected from previous work that high DLI and CK treatments would stimulate the development of highly productive leaves on axillary (secondary) stems and thereby improve the H1 yield at the whole‐plant scale. Increasing plant density from 35.7 to 61 plants m–2 during the post‐infiltration phase significantly decreased the proportion of axillary leaf biomass by 30% and H1 yield per plant by 39%, resulting in no additional yield gain on a whole‐crop area basis. Adding CK to the recirculated nutrient solution decreased the harvested leaf biomass by 31% and did not enhance the relative proportion of S leaves of the plants as previously reported with foliar CK application. There was a 36% increase in H1 yield when doubling the DLI from 14 to 28 mol m–2 s–1, and up to 71% yield gain when combining such an increase in DLI with the hydroponic CK treatment. Contrary to our expectations, leaves located on the main stem, particularly those from the upper half of the plant (i.e., eighth leaf and above), contributed about 80% of total H1 yield. Our study highlights the significantly different phenotype (~30% less secondary leaf biomass) and divergent responses to light and CK treatments of NFT‐grown N. benthamiana plants compared to previous studies conducted on potted plants.

中文翻译：

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协同光和细胞分裂素处理减轻了水培烟草高密度培养引起的重组蛋白产量下降


植物分子农业目前正在从土壤培养向水培系统过渡。在这项研究中，我们设计了一个全植物 NFT（营养膜技术）平台，用于在烟草中瞬时表达含有血凝素 H1 蛋白的流感病毒样颗粒。特别是，我们研究了渗透后表达阶段植物密度对植物生长和 H1 产量的影响，以及与作物接收的每日光积分 (DLI) 和外源施用 6-BAP 细胞分裂素 (CK) 的关系。我们从之前的工作中预计，高 DLI 和 CK 处理将刺激腋生（次生）茎上高产叶子的发育，从而提高全株规模的 H1 产量。在后渗透阶段，将植物密度从 35.7 株增加到 61 株 m–2，腋生叶生物量的比例显着降低了 30%，单株 H1 产量降低了 39%，导致整个作物面积没有额外的产量增益。向再循环营养液中添加 CK 使收获的叶片生物量降低了 31%，并且没有提高植物 S 叶的相对比例，正如之前报道的叶面 CK 施用一样。当 DLI 从 14 mol m–2 s–1 加倍至 28 mol m–2 s–1 时，H1 产量增加了 36%，而当 DLI 的增加与水培 CK 处理相结合时，产量增加高达 71%。与我们的预期相反，位于主茎上的叶子，特别是来自植物上半部分（即第八片叶子及以上）的叶子，贡献了 H1 总产量的约 80%。我们的研究强调了 NFT 生长的 N.N. 显着不同的表型（次生叶生物量减少约 30%）以及对光和 CK 处理的不同反应。 本塞米亚纳植物与之前对盆栽植物进行的研究进行了比较。